POETRY FROM PARADISE VALLEY

POETRY FROM PARADISE VALLEY web page

Pecan Grove Press has released an anthology of poems, a sampling of works published in Valparaiso Poetry Review during its first decade, from the original 1999-2000 volume to the 2009-2010 volume.

Poetry from Paradise Valley includes a stellar roster of 50 poets. Among the contributors are a former Poet Laureate of the United States, a winner of the Griffin International Prize, two Pulitzer Prize winners, two National Book Award winners, two National Book Critics Circle winners, six finalists for the National Book Award, four finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award, two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, and a few dozen recipients of other honors, such as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, etc.

Best Books of Indiana 2011: Finalist. Judges' Citation: "Poetry from Paradise Valley is an excellent anthology that features world-class poetry, including the work of many artists from the Midwest, such as Jared Carter, Annie Finch, David Baker, and Allison Joseph. It’s an eclectic and always interesting collection where poems on similar themes flow into each other. It showcases the highest caliber of U. S. poetry." —Indiana Center for the Book, Indiana State Library

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

An Author's Assemblage: Notes and Notices

Some readers of “One Poet’s Notes” might have observed this week an additional link has been placed low in the page’s sidebar alongside links to personal publications. With the beginning of a new academic year upon us, I have decided to establish a separate blog, “An Author’s Assemblage: Notes and Notices,” for brief bits of material that could interest or be useful to students in my literature and creative writing courses. As a description at the opening of the blog states: “The accumulation of posts to this web page serves merely as an author’s assemblage of brief notes and notices: the collection of informal bits of information, quotations, and observations gathered as one way to display a personal reflection of perceptions on poetry, publication, and related selections of material drawn from my perspectives as a poet or professor of literature and creative writing.”

Also, this new blog will contain a number of items relating to my own poetry and publication of my work; therefore, the separate location permits such posts without intruding upon the purpose of the editor’s blog here at “One Poet’s Notes,” which has been primarily intended to complement Valparaiso Poetry Review and focus upon authors or topics pertaining to the literary journal. Indeed, since my latest collection of poetry, Seeded Light, is scheduled to be published this October, the same month that a special expanded issue of Valparaiso Poetry Review will be released to mark ten years since appearance of the initial issue, the supplementary personal blog will make it easier for me to inform readers about both events without any conflict.

Obviously, there will be times when writings in one place would be directly relevant to readers of the other blog. On those occasions, I will provide specific links from one to the other. Furthermore, subjects covered in each of the blogs usually will be noted in the twitter feed for those followers on twitter (http://twitter.com/valpopoetry), as well as in the “Twitter Updates” at the top of the sidebar on this page. Nevertheless, I take this opportunity to invite readers who subscribe to “One Poet’s Notes” for notification of future entries to add a subscription to the new blog as well.

Dark Refuge (Whale Sound, 2011)

Click Image for Audio Chapbook

Recent Release

DARK REFUGE

Dark Refuge, a sequence of poems in an audio chapbook and online text, is now available for free, as well as an mp3 recording, e-book copy, and pdf file of the poetry. A print edition of the book and a cd may also be ordered.

SEEDED LIGHT (Turning Point, 2010)

Best Books of Indiana 2011: Finalist. Judges' Citation:"As the title implies, [Seeded Light] includes many poems where nature plays an important part. An emphasis on human relationships intertwines with natural description to give these poems philosophical and emotional depths. Byrne brings to life an old family farm gone fallow, a visit to an inn where the speaker spent his honeymoon, and Lester Young playing tenor sax." —Indiana Center for the Book, Indiana State Library

" ... is memorial and social, scenic and intimate ..."—David Baker

" ... offers abundant evidence of a mind’s alertness to the world of nature and to modern urban reality ..."—Alfred Corn

"... as mysterious and elusive as the permutations of light and shadow for which Byrne has such a canny eye ... subtly virtuosic displays of rhyme, alliteration, and assonance ..."—Frank WilsonThe Philadelphia Inquirer

"Rich, shaded, and subtle in texture, with second lines often bleeding into the next couplet, these open couplets expand meaning, encouraging the reader to follow."—Zara RaabPoemeleon

"... there is always light, from the slimmest of glimmers to full moony illumination, and it is that light, seeded throughout, that we will remember, long after we close the pages and turn off the lamp."—Barbara CrookerRattle

"The liveliness of any art, Byrne implicitly and convincingly argues, depends on union of emotion and intellect, design and accident."—Lesley WheelerThe Adirondack Review

“These poems take readers on very human journeys through translucent landscapes where the world is in some way in balance, or in touch, with what we are. They especially lend themselves to meditative reading, and their gift is a sense of deepened understanding of and participation in the natural world.”—Janet McCannYanaguana Literary Review

"What makes Byrne's poems memorable is his control of plain language that serves as a guiding light."—JL KatoTipton Poetry Journal

ORDER NUMBERED & SIGNED COPIES OF SEEDED LIGHT

Seeded Light (Turning Point Books, 2010) is Edward Byrne's sixth collection of poetry. The refined poems of this volume invite the reader into a spacious world . . .

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Readers are invited to join the Valparaiso Poetry Review Facebook group for updates on news and publication of latest issues of VPR. This is an open group anyone can join and currently consisting of more than 2100 members. In addition, everyone may participate with commentary on the Facebook page's discussion board about authors and works appearing in all the issues of VPR.

IMPORTANT: All members of this group automatically will be informed whenever new issues of Valparaiso Poetry Review are released or other information concerning news about VPR occurs. This replaces the old VPR mailing list for notification of new issues.

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About "One Poet's Notes"

"One Poet's Notes" presents ongoing personal commentary by a poet/editor about contemporary poetry, fiction, and criticism, as well as various other issues relating to the literary arts, and it is intended to complement content in the semiannual publications, Valparaiso Poetry Review and Valparaiso Fiction Review.

Collections selected for discussion in this editor's blog include distinguished works published in the last few years by small presses, university presses, or major publishing houses.

Edward Byrne

About Me

Edward Byrne is the author of eight collections of poetry, most recently a trilogy of volumes: TIDAL AIR (Pecan Grove Press, 2002), SEEDED LIGHT (Turning Point Books, 2010), and TINTED DISTANCES (Turning Point Books,2011). DARK REFUGE (2011), an audio chapbook offering a sequence of poems from AUTISM: A POEM, is available from Whale Sound. He has also edited two anthologies of poetry, including POETRY FROM PARADISE VALLEY (Pecan Grove Press, 2010). In addition, his essays of literary criticism have been published in various journals and book collections, including MARK STRAND (Chelsea House Publishers), edited by Harold Bloom; A CONDITION OF THE SPIRIT: THE LIFE AND WORK OF LARRY LEVIS (Eastern Washington University Press), edited by Christopher Buckley and Alexander Long; “Claudia Emerson: Literary Criticism” in POETRY FOR STUDENTS (Thomson Gale Publishing), edited by Ira Mark Milne; and DAVID BOTTOMS: CRITICAL ESSAYS AND INTERVIEWS (McFarland & Co.), edited by William Walsh. He is a professor in the English Department at Valparaiso University, where he serves as editor of VALPARAISO POETRY REVIEW and co-editor of VALPARAISO FICTION REVIEW.
Contact: Edward.Byrne@Valpo.Edu

Contemporary Poetry Series

VPR Poem of the Week

Each week One Poet's Notes will try to highlight work by a poet selected from the issues of Valparaiso Poetry Review. According to the children's rhyme, "Tuesday's child is full of grace." Therefore, graceful poems from VPR's issues will be featured on Tuesdays except when other posts with news or updates preempt the usual appearance of this item.